Like many Asian cultures, Thai people tend not to speak up or appear to be assertive as in the Western sense. Fieg (1989) as well as Knutson, Komolsevin, Chatiketu, and Smith (2002), for example, describe Thai people as being shy, easy going, fun loving, polite, and kind, and reluctant to be in conflict or direct confrontation. If we adopt the value that being assertive or taking the opportunity to voice your opinions is always a trait of communication competence, then the characteristics of Thai people mentioned here will imply that Thai people are, for the most part, incompetent communicators. However, as a Thai person, I myself would argue that there are times when we, Thai people, deliberately appear to be shy in order to maintain social harmony. Shyness, for the Thai, is then a strategic performative behavior which is not a result of external factors or incompetent behavior per se.